The invention relates to apparatus for presenting blind rivets, of the type comprising a shell and a projecting stem, for pick-up by the nosepiece of a rivet setting tool, which apparatus comprises;
a passage along which rivets are fed one at a time stem foremost;
gate means arranged to arrest each rivet and position it in uniform orientation at a pick-up location;
locating means for locating the nosepiece of a setting tool in predetermined relation to the gate means with the mandrel-receiving aperture of the nosepiece in a position to receive a rivet stem from the gate means at the pick up location;
which gate means comprises a pair of guide members movable with respect to each other.
Apparatus of this type is disclosed GB 2 118 086, in which the guide members of the gate are spring-biassed into the open position, and are closed to receive a rivet only when a tool nosepiece contacts the gate means and is forced towards the guide members, closure against the spring biassing being produced by the force and movement of the setting tool. This reliance on force and movement by the setting tool may be acceptable in some circumstances, for example where the rivet setting tool is hand held and may be freely moved about by an operator who can exert the necessary force on the tool manually. However, it is now increasingly the practice to mount such rivet setting tools in fixed position, which requires that workpieces in which rivets are to be set, and the rivet presenting apparatus, are alternately brought to the setting tool nosepiece. It is also increasingly the practice to mount such rivet setting tools on a movable or articulated mechanical positioning device, such as a robot arm. In such cases, the prior-art arrangement referred to may have disadvantages.